McMurray Rebecca J, Dalby Matthew J, Tsimbouri P Monica
Mrksich Research Group, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
J Tissue Eng Regen Med. 2015 May;9(5):528-39. doi: 10.1002/term.1957. Epub 2014 Nov 5.
Self-renewal and differentiation are two fundamental characteristics of stem cells. Stem cell self-renewal is critical for replenishing the stem cell population, while differentiation is necessary for maintaining tissue homeostasis. Over the last two decades a great deal of effort has been applied to discovering the processes that control these opposing stem cell fates. One way of examining the role of the physical environment is the use of biomaterial strategies that have the ability to manipulate cells without any requirement for chemical factors. The mechanism whereby cells have been found to respond to a mechanical stimulus is termed mechanotransduction, the process by which a mechanical cue (or alteration in cell spreading changing internal cellular mechanics, i.e. intracellular tension) is transduced into a chemical signal inside the cell, eliciting changes in gene expression. This can occur either directly, as a result of changes in the cell cytoskeleton, or indirectly through a series of biochemical signalling cascades. The main focus of this review is to examine the role of mechanotransduction in the differentiation and self-renewal of stem cells. In particular, we will focus on the use of biomaterials as a tool for examining mechanotrandsuctive effects on self-renewal and differentiation.
自我更新和分化是干细胞的两个基本特征。干细胞自我更新对于补充干细胞群体至关重要，而分化对于维持组织稳态是必要的。在过去二十年中，人们付出了巨大努力来发现控制这些相反干细胞命运的过程。研究物理环境作用的一种方法是使用生物材料策略，这种策略能够在无需任何化学因子的情况下操纵细胞。细胞对机械刺激做出反应的机制被称为机械转导，即机械信号（或细胞铺展变化改变细胞内力学，即细胞内张力）被转导为细胞内化学信号，引发基因表达变化的过程。这可以直接发生，作为细胞骨架变化的结果，也可以通过一系列生化信号级联间接发生。本综述的主要重点是研究机械转导在干细胞分化和自我更新中的作用。特别是，我们将专注于使用生物材料作为研究机械转导对自我更新和分化影响的工具。
